Rodolphe Wytsman

Rodolphe Paul Marie Wytsman (March 11, 1860 – Nov. 2, 1927) was a Belgian Impressionist painter. He trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and was one of the founding members of Les XX, a group of avant-garde Belgian artists.

Rodolphe Wytsman was born in Dendermonde, Belgium. He was the son of Klemens Wytsman ( 1825–1870), an Austrian immigrant who was notary and shipping agent, and Emma-Maria Cockuyt (born in Ghent, c. 1838). In 1886 Wytsman married Juliette Trullemans (b. Brussels, 1866–d. Elsene, 1925), also a painter. During three decades of marriage they resided in or near Brussels, except during World War I, when they fled to the Netherlands.

Wystman grew up in a cultured environment. His father was—apart from being a notary—a numismatist, historian and composer. Among his friends were the Flemish composers François Auguste Gevaert and Peter Benoit and the French literary figure, Victor Hugo. Wytsman's father died prematurely on 27 November 1870 when Rodolphe was only nine or ten. Shortly thereafter, Wytsman's mother moved to her hometown of Dendermonde, 20 miles north of Brussels.

In 1873 Wytsman took courses at the Academy in Ghent from Jean Capeinick (1838–1890), a Belgian painter who specialized in still lifes and rich, colorful floral arrangements. Capeinick, a true professional, also taught Théo van Rysselberghe, a Belgian neo-impressionist who was influential at the turn of the century. Wytsman's studies were interrupted by a lucrative job in a yarn shop. After three years, and against the wishes of his mother, he left this tedious occupation and resumed his studies at the Academy, studying under Théodore-Joseph Canneel () and Julius De Keghel. Wytsman became friends with artists van Rysselberghe, Gustave Vanaise and Armand Heins; the latter remained a lifelong friend. As a painter Wytsman gravitated toward landscapes. His early works—at this time painted near Ghent—were realistic. In the following years he developed a more pre-Impressionist style. By 1881 Wytsman lived in Brussels, where he was influenced by early Modernist Painting.

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